Seasoning your food...

[Externet]

 

Do you add spices to your food before cooking/grilling/frying or after ?

[Endy0816]

Typically before, sometimes also during and after depending on what I'm cooking.

[exchemist]

4 hours ago, Externet said:

 

Do you add spices to your food before cooking/grilling/frying or after ?

Salt, and often pepper, are generally added before. However there are exceptions, e.g. some dried pulses such as lentils are said to become tough if cooked in salted water. So you will find dhal recipes call for cooking them in plain water first and then seasoning later when the spices are added. But if you talk about spices in general, that depends on the spice and the recipe.

Do you have something more specific in mind?

[pzkpfw]

I make a lot of curries so it's the spices that get cooked first.

[Sensei]

6 hours ago, Externet said:

Do you add spices to your food before cooking/grilling/frying or after ?

Before and after.

Search the net for "marinating the meat"..

 

Edited October 24, 2023 by Sensei

[geordief]

https://www.tariqhalalmeats.com/blog/post/the-health-benefits-of-marinating-meat"When we grill meat or cook it at high temperatures, it can lead to the formation of heterocyclic amines (HCAs).  These substances increase the risk of cancer in those that consume them. However, if you marinate your meat, cancer risk can be decreased by as much as 95% because it creates a barrier to high-temperature cooking. The shortest amount of time you can marinate meat to reduce the formation of these HCAs is as little as 20 minutes. This is not the only reason why you should marinate your meat. By marinating meat you can achieve not only health benefits but many more - which includes more tender, j

I just came upon this  article/blog on the health benefits of marinating meat(seems like there may be practical advice  on marinading in there as well)

 

Are there good scientific reasons or research as to whether that could be the case?

[John Cuthber]

1 hour ago, geordief said:

if you marinate your meat, cancer risk can be decreased by as much as 95% because it creates a barrier to high-temperature cooking

Is there any evidence of that?

[geordief]

2 minutes ago, John Cuthber said:

Is there any evidence of that?

That  is what I was wondering and asking.

I first(well only then and now also  on the link I posted)  heard it claimed on CNN in some kind of a health foods section  and it seemed plausible  as you could get the  (extremely nice)taste without the need for roasting and browning..

But I am not clear how much of a problem there is in the first place .

If one does a lot of barbecuing then the smoke could well be an issue but dietary intake is different.

[Sensei]

9 hours ago, geordief said:

https://www.tariqhalalmeats.com/blog/post/the-health-benefits-of-marinating-meat"When we grill meat or cook it at high temperatures, it can lead to the formation of heterocyclic amines (HCAs).  These substances increase the risk of cancer in those that consume them. However, if you marinate your meat, cancer risk can be decreased by as much as 95% because it creates a barrier to high-temperature cooking. The shortest amount of time you can marinate meat to reduce the formation of these HCAs is as little as 20 minutes. This is not the only reason why you should marinate your meat. By marinating meat you can achieve not only health benefits but many more - which includes more tender, j

I just came upon this  article/blog on the health benefits of marinating meat(seems like there may be practical advice  on marinading in there as well)

 

Are there good scientific reasons or research as to whether that could be the case?

I don't think so. The marinade is used to make a sauce for the meat.

The breaded meat has a much thicker layer, but you still eat the bread. If there are compounds with unpaired electrons, or products from their reactions, etc., you still eat it, you don't throw it away..

Open fire cooking, when fire and smoke literally licks the meat, is the most dangerous. Smoke has compounds with unpaired electrons which are highly reactive. For the same reason people smoking cigarettes or other stuff, get cancer of lungs.

 

Edited October 24, 2023 by Sensei

[sethoflagos]

22 hours ago, Externet said:

 

Do you add spices to your food before cooking/grilling/frying or after ?

As @Endy0816 says, it depends.

Typically, mustard or cumin seeds are fried (or dry roated over a medium heat) until they pop, at temperatures that would burn the likes of fresh coriander or parsley. 

And much depends on whether the spice is fat- or water-soluble.

[exchemist]

19 hours ago, geordief said:

https://www.tariqhalalmeats.com/blog/post/the-health-benefits-of-marinating-meat"When we grill meat or cook it at high temperatures, it can lead to the formation of heterocyclic amines (HCAs).  These substances increase the risk of cancer in those that consume them. However, if you marinate your meat, cancer risk can be decreased by as much as 95% because it creates a barrier to high-temperature cooking. The shortest amount of time you can marinate meat to reduce the formation of these HCAs is as little as 20 minutes. This is not the only reason why you should marinate your meat. By marinating meat you can achieve not only health benefits but many more - which includes more tender, j

I just came upon this  article/blog on the health benefits of marinating meat(seems like there may be practical advice  on marinading in there as well)

 

Are there good scientific reasons or research as to whether that could be the case?

This looks wrong to me. It would be true only if, when you grilled marinated meat, you were unable to achieve the browning/blackening of the surface - which is the whole point of grilling as that is where the special taste of grilled meat comes from.

[studiot]

On 10/24/2023 at 1:14 AM, Externet said:

 

Do you add spices to your food before cooking/grilling/frying or after ?

Can you not widen the scope of this thread. Grilling or frying are are from the only methods of cooking.

 

Equally some spices and cooking methods are designed to be added first, some, such as pickles are designed to be eaten with the food and some folks like to add some spices after cooking but before eating.

[Externet]

Thanks.  I do no not understand why baking, boiling, firing and more cannot be other wider methods of cooking.  

[studiot]

44 minutes ago, Externet said:

Thanks.  I do no not understand why baking, boiling, firing and more cannot be other wider methods of cooking.  

I didn't say they couldn'e, I am asking you as the OP to include them and other methods.

 

As a for instance the point of a Hungarian goulash is that the paprika and onions are gently cooked together in oil just prior to addin the meat, followed by the other ingredients.

A similar example of this is to cook the meat in a slow cooker or slow microwave with a bag or perforated ball of 'pickling spice' include in the pot, but this spice is removed at the end before serving.

Your Halal reference will not, of course, include pig products.

But a good way to cook Ham is to place several cloves of garlic along with a clove of cloves individually in slits in the joint, and then add a spoon of brown sugar to the boiling water.

The boiling water also then is used to cook the greens and carrots which gives them extra flavour.

[geordief]

I sometimes cook for the public.

On one occasion we had a couple of French customers(one of whom let us know that she had  once cooked for  Madonna in Paris -from memory)

She decided to go shopping  for ingredients in the area and then cook an evening  meal to which she she invited the pair of us.

It was a bit of  uncharted culinary territory as the meal included several large pieces of raw salmon and other fish   and we were quite unfamiliar with the concept of  actually eating sushi then.

 

I tried my best but my partner  left it to one side.

Later in the meal I adopted my usual practice of seasoning my plate with some salt and pepper.

I was admonished for doing this and ,when I asked why I was told that this was "disrespectful to the chef" (who had presumably already seasoned the meal during the preparation according to her judgement)

 

I assumed this was a joke and attempted to argue my corner but it became apparent that she was serious. 

 

People can take food  and cooking it very seriously.

Edited October 25, 2023 by geordief

[studiot]

15 minutes ago, geordief said:

I sometimes cook for the public.

On one occasion we had a couple of French customers(one of whom let us know that she had  once cooked for  Madonna in Paris -from memory)

She decided to go shopping  for ingredients in the area and then cook an evening  meal to which she she invited the pair of us.

It was a bit of  uncharted culinary territory as the meal included several large pieces of raw salmon and other fish   and we were quite unfamiliar with the concept of  actually eating sushi then.

 

I tried my best but my partner  left it to one side.

Later in the meal I adopted my usual practice of seasoning my plate with some salt and pepper.

I was admonished for doing this and ,when I asked why I was told that this was "disrespectful to the chef" (who had presumably already seasoned the meal during the preparation according to her judgement)

 

I assumed this was a joke and attempted to argue my corner but it became apparent that she was serious. 

 

People can take food  and cooking it very seriously.

Interesting tale.  +1

[Sensei]

On 10/25/2023 at 4:28 PM, geordief said:

People can take food  and cooking it very seriously.

Haven't you seen Gordon Ramsay's Hell's Kitchen? They could kill you for ignorance..

 

 

Edited October 26, 2023 by Sensei

[geordief]

5 hours ago, Sensei said:

Haven't you seen Gordon Ramsay's Hell's Kitchen? They could kill you for ignorance..

 

 

Yes,I see what you mean.It takes all sorts.